Baton Rouge Apartments (Jefferson, Gardere: gated, apartment complex, lease)

[Crappie_Rick]

Hi everyone,

I'll be taking a temporary job (12 months) with a company located on Essen Lane close to the "Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center". I will be coming down early August. I've been doing internet searches and I'm a little overwhelmed with all the apartments available. I would like to have something lined up so that when I get there I have a place to stay. This means that I would have to sign a lease before seeing the place. My concern though, is that I'll commit to a place and sign the lease, and then when I get there I realize that I shouldn't be in this neighborhood. One, place in particular that I'm thinking about is Bluebonnet Place. It's less than 5 miles from the office. Is this a safe place? Should I look elsewhere? Also, I'll be bringing my boat with me to do a little fishing on the weekends. Most places I talked to said I can keep it on the premises. I'm concerned that it won't be locked up inside a garage. Should I be concerned? Some of the apartment complexes are gated. Does this make it safer? The Bluebonnet Place I mentioned is not gated. Thanks for all the answers.

[cesmith78]

Theres Bluebonnet Towers on Bluebonnet. A studio there is $500 a month but it is owned by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries (They were built as dorms for their bible college but because of some well known events they don't need most of them anymore)

[darylwi]

For what you're looking for, I would not suggest the Jimmy Swaggart towers.
I also wouldn't recommend Bluebonnet Place just because of the complaints I've heard and location.
If you come back to Essen, there's Cobblestone at Essen and Chateau Dijon.
On Perkins near Essen, Mansions in the Park.
On Bluebonnet near Perkins, Turnberry Place, Parc on Bluebonnet and Perkins Rowe
On Jefferson from Drusilla to Corporate, almost everything is good quality if you can find the right price.

[Crappie_Rick]

darylwi - can you explain a little more about Bluebonnet Place (complaints and location)?

My biggest concern is having to sign a lease. I don't know how long this job will last. I don't want to sign a 12 month lease and only be working there for 2 months. Bluebonnet has month to month leases.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Crappie_Rick

darylwi - can you explain a little more about Bluebonnet Place (complaints and location)?

My biggest concern is having to sign a lease. I don't know how long this job will last. I don't want to sign a 12 month lease and only be working there for 2 months. Bluebonnet has month to month leases.

In its heydey, Bluebonnet Place was a dorm for Jimmy Swaggart's Bible College. After the sex scandal, Jimmy's been renting out pirces of his property. And the dorm became Bluebonnet Place, and my impression is, they want rent money from anyone they think might pay more than anything else. So you may not be dealing with a high quality clientele. Plus, the building itself is an ugly, housing project looking high rise (for BR, anyway) building.

[darylwi]

Originally Posted by BRMan

In its heydey, Bluebonnet Place was a dorm for Jimmy Swaggart's Bible College. After the sex scandal, Jimmy's been renting out pirces of his property. And the dorm became Bluebonnet Place, and my impression is, they want rent money from anyone they think might pay more than anything else. So you may not be dealing with a high quality clientele. Plus, the building itself is an ugly, housing project looking high rise (for BR, anyway) building.

That's actually Bluebonnet Towers which is ok because I get them all confused from time-to-time. Bluebonnet Place is on Burbank between Bluebonnet and Gardere. It was and may still be highly used by LSU students and that along with being practically in Gardere are reasons enough to jump ship. Other reasons that I've heard I can't say because that would be opinionated and come across to the mod as a complaint which you're not supposed to do on here. So I'll leave it at that and say that I would not rent at Bluebonnet Place and I would slightly consider the towers although they wouldn't be my first choice.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by darylwi

That's actually Bluebonnet Towers which is ok because I get them all confused from time-to-time. Bluebonnet Place is on Burbank between Bluebonnet and Gardere. It was and may still be highly used by LSU students and that along with being practically in Gardere are reasons enough to jump ship. Other reasons that I've heard I can't say because that would be opinionated and come across to the mod as a complaint which you're not supposed to do on here. So I'll leave it at that and say that I would not rent at Bluebonnet Place and I would slightly consider the towers although they wouldn't be my first choice.

Ah - my bad. I'd also be concerned about the flooding potential of living at Bluebonnet Place, in addition to it being at Gardere's doorstep. Plus, the Burbank and Bluebonnet traffic would be nasty. There are PLENTY complexes closer to the lake.

[southland]

Did you check craigslist.com?